Best Practices for Addressing Health Professional Shortages in Rural Communities The Colorado Trust Nancy Csuti and Laurel Petralia Evaluation consultants Kaia Gallagher, Kim Riley Health Professions Initiative Building Colorado’s future health professions workforce

BEST PRACTICES FOR ADDRESSING HEALTH PROFESSIONAL SHORTAGES IN RURAL COMMUNITIES OVERVIEW OF THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS INITIATIVE –What types of programs are being funded? –What types of students are being supported? EMERGING LESSONS RE BEST PRACTICES FOR ADDRESSING HEALTH PROFESSIONAL SHORTAGES –“Grow-your-Own” –Rural Immersion Training

THE COLORADO TRUST HEALTH PROFESSIONS INITIATIVE Three year: ( ), $10.2 million initiative Funding to increase the number of physicians, dentists, pharmacists, nurses and allied health professionals 21 grantee organizations: hospitals, universities, community colleges and community health centers

The Colorado Trust Colorado Rural Health Center (CRHC) Center for Research Strategies (CRS) Colorado Health Institute (CHI) Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) 21 Grantee Organizations Health Professions Initiative Partnership

HOW DO THE TCT-HPI GRANTEES DIFFER FROM ONE ANOTHER? Train different types of health professionals Work at different points along a training continuum Represent different types of organizations and training institutions

COMMUNITY Students Training Jobs Crop of Healthcare Providers

COMMUNITY Pre Career Students Training Jobs Allied HealthNursingAdvanced

HPI Grantees with a Rural Focus by Professional Training Category Pre-Career2 Emergency Worker3 Allied Health9 Nursing14 Mid-Level Provider1 Psycho-Social Provider2 Doctorate4

HOW ARE THE HPI GRANTEES DEVELOPING A TRAINING INFRASTRUCTURE? Direct Training61% Expanded Training to New Students 57% Developing New Curriculum30% Offering Scholarships or Support 22% Developing New Training Sites 22%

HOW WILL THE HPI IMPACT HEALTH PROFESSIONAL RECRUITMENT/ RETENTION IN RURAL AREAS? HPI GRANTEES ARE WORKING TO: Increase the geographic accessibility of training programs in rural/underserved areas Increase the financial accessibility of training to rural/underserved residents Meet the unique needs of non-traditional students Prepare students to work in rural/underserved settings

WHO ARE THE HPI STUDENTS? Average Age33 Percent Women82% Percent From a Rural Area53% Percent Who Want to Work in a Rural Area 38% Percent in Nursing Training33% Percent in Allied Health Training 49%

GROW-YOUR-OWN STRATEGIES Begin with recruiting students into the health professions Develop and strengthen training capacity in rural settings Incorporate financial and other types of support for health professional students Focus on training students for a unique role in rural settings

PREPARING STUDENTS FOR A UNIQUE ROLE AS RURAL PROVIDERS Health professionals in rural/ underserved communities are: -- Likely to serve in a generalist role -- Likely to have less support from other health professionals -- Benefit from training opportunities that anticipate these types of roles

PROVIDING SUPPORT TO HEALTH PROFESSIONAL STUDENTS Most HPI students are “older” Many are seeking to advance their training (e.g., through career-lattice programs) Many are supporting families and need flexible training opportunities Many are returning to school and need academic support

IMPLICATIONS FOR COMMUNITY-BASED RURAL RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION (R/R) STRATEGIES R/R strategies need to encompass a long range perspective starting with the recruitment of students into health careers. Communities should partner and support rurally based training programs. “Grow-your-own” students will be more successful when programs offer varied types of support, financial, academic and social. Students anticipating a rural career should be offered training opportunities to prepare them to work within rural settings.

CONTACT INFORMATION Kaia Gallagher, Ph.D., President Center for Research Strategies 225 East 16 th Avenue, #1150 Denver, Colorado (303) Laurel Petralia, MS Program Officer The Colorado Trust 1600 Sherman Street Denver, Colorado (303)